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- W. E. DOUBLEDAY MANUFACTURE OF FUR FAGED HATS. No. 261,437. PatentedJuly 18, 1882.

Inventor:

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UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. DOUBLEDAY, OF NEW YORK, N;

MANUFACTURE OF FUR-FACED HATS.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 261,437, dated July18, 1882.

Application filed March 1, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

, Fig.2 is a vertical section of the same bat placed upon a hat-bodypreparatory to the sticking process. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of thehat-body and for bat when folded in position to be acted upon by thesticking mechanism. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the hat-body with thefur bat applied to its outer surface only. Fig. 5 is an elevation of amachine adapted for carrying out my invention.

Heretofore in the manufacture of hats it has been customary to apply afur bat to the outer surface of a hat-body which has been previouslyfabricated by Weavin g or felting and shrunk to the size and densitywhich it is desired that it shall have when completed, and then told thearticle, and, laying it flat upon a table, proceed to stick the fur uponone side at a time, that side being the upper surface, turning it overas often as may be necessary at each successive stage of the operationthen, after turning it inside out, place a fur bat in contact with thatportion of the hat which is Y to form the under surface of the brim,fold the hat, and lay'itflat upon the table, sticking the fur upon itsupper surface only, turning the hat over as often as may be necessaryduring the progress of the work; but in carryingout my improved processof manufacture-that is to say, in sticking the fur to the hat-body bymeans of mechanical appliances which subject both sides of the hat, whenfolded, to a pressing and rubbing action produced by adjacent surfacesand suitable operating mechanism- I am enabled to stick the fur to foursurfaces simultaneously-that is to say, to both the up per and lowerouter surfaces of the hat-body and also to the upper and lowerinnersurfaces of the brim-the operation of thus sticking these four surfacesat the same instant of time being due to manipulating the hat by meansof the adjacent surfaces of the machine.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, I will proceed toillustrate one method which 1 have employed in carrying it into effect.

Referring to Fig. 5, which is an elevation or side view of an ordinaryhardening or felting machine, D is the platen or jigger-plate, to whicha rapid vibrating motion is imparted by means of cranks g, mounted onshaft B, the platen being elevated automatically through the medium ofcranks, (not shown,) rock-shaft E and levers E to permit the feedingforward of the material which is being acted upon, this feeding beingdone by means of an endlessbelt moved forward by rollers j j, actuatedby a cam and connecting devices, substantially as shown in Patent No.95,863, which more fully describes the machine.

In Fig. 1, A represents aconical bat formed of fur, preferably nutria,formed by blowing the same upon a rotated perforated cone insubstantially the manner commonly employed for that purpose. 0 is anouter layer of raw cotton, which has been blown upon the bat of fur bythe same machinery. 1n forming these cones I prefer. to spread the furin a thin layer -upon a feeding-apron and place upon the same apron, butin rear of the fur, a thin layer of cotton, so that the cotton will bedeposited upon the outer surface of the fur by the automatic operationof the machine. After the bat has been formed I remove it from theperforated cone, either in the condition in which it is formed, or byunwrapping it with a wet cloth and then removing the bat and clothtogether. This cone is of substantially the same taper and size as thehat-body to which it is to be applied, except that the cone is made asmuchlonger than the body as is necessary to permit the lower edge of thefur and cotton bat to be turned inward over the edge of the hat-body- Fto form a fur-lined brim of the hat, as is indicated in Fig. 2; andafter the body has been placed within the hat and the edge of the hatturned over within the lower edge of the body the two are flattened out,so that the two cotton surfaces of the brim come in contact with eachother, as do the inner surfaces of the hatbody between the brim and theapex of the triangular shaped compound material, (see Fig. 3;) or, whenpreferred, a sheet of thin oiled paper or other suitable materialsuch ascotton cloth-may be placedbetween the adjacent surfaces of the cotton onthe brim. It will of course be understood that the extreme edge of thebat is .of greater diameter than that portion of the hat-body which isadjacent to it after the bat has been turned inward, as indicated inFig. 2, and that consequently the portion of the bat will be wrinkled orlaid in folds when the article has been flattened out with its innerportions in contact with each other, which is not, however, a seriousobjection, as will be explained. I now place a number of these bats andbodies between the bedplate and platen of the sticker, Fig. 5, andsubject the same to the rapid vibratory motion of the platen,accompanied by heat or otherwise, as circumstances shall indicate, and,when preferred, I place sheets of paper, cloth, or other suitablematerial between the hat and the bedplate and platen of the machine.After this vibratory motion has been continued for a short time,dependent upon circumstances and conditions of temperature and moisture,the fur will be found to be stuck to the hat-body, after which the hatis subjected to the usual scalding process.

It will be found upon completing the scald ing operation that thesurplus of fur which was produced by the wrinkling or folding abovementioned will come away when the layer of cotton is removed, leavingthe hatbody thoroughly covered with firmly-attached fur; or, whendesired, the operation may be varied by placing thehatbody within theconical hat of fur and cotton and then cutting off or otherwiseseparating that portion of the hat of fur and cotton which projectsbeyond the open end of the hat-body, thus forming a ring or band, whichmay be used in covering the under brim of the hat with fur, suchoperation being performed separately--that is to say, in such case Istick the fur to the outer face of the hat-body, the folded hat beingshown in Fig. 4, and afterward turn the hat wrong side out, place on itsouter face the ring or band of fur and cotton, and stick itseparatelyhaving found by experience that in such operation the fur canbe made to adhere to and cover perfectly the lower edge of the hat in assatisfactory manner as such lower edge can be covered by turning the batover the edge of the hat-body, as I have first described, and may beable to produce results which are in some respects more satisfactorythan those I can produce by the first-described operation, owing to thefact that when carrying out such firstdescribed method the materialwhich is acted upon by the platen or j igger is not of uniformthickness, it being much thicker at the point occupied by the under brimthan at the other portions of the hat, as will be readily understood byan examination of Fig. 3.

While I employ a well-known machine-say that represented in Fig. 5-insticking the fur to the felt or other fabric of which the hatbody iscomposed, yet this operation is not at all analogous in many respects tothe operation of hardening or felting, for which such machines areusually employed. In the ordinary use of these machines the platen restswith its entire weight upon a comparatively loose mass of cotton, wool,or mixed fabrics, and operates to unite them firmly and throughout theirentire lengths into a firm, hard, compact material, called felt, of muchless thickness when completed than is the bat when the felting operationis commenced; bntin carrying out my invention I so manipulate themachine that only one end of each of the fibers or filaments of whichthe fur is composed is attached to the hat-body, leaving the rest of thefibers in a light, loose, flowing condition, substantially like that inwhich the fur exists upon the animal from which it is taken.

In carrying out my invention either a very light platen must be usedwith a short period of vibration, or else the machine must be soconstructed that the platen cannot rest with its full weight upon thematerial; otherwise, instead of sticking the fur to the body of the hat,it (the fur) will be felted not only to the body of the hat, but thefilaments of fur will be felted to each other, so that they will notflow, and thereby the end sought to be attained by my invention will beentirely frustrated.

I am aware that rollers have been heretofore employed in the process ofsticking a fur nap to a previously felted or woven fabric, and thereforedo not claim such process; but the invention for which I claimprotection in this case possesses marked advantages over the processesheretofore employed in the manufacture of hats.

In makinghats by any of the modes of manufacture other than my own ithas been customary to apply a fur bat to the outer surface of thehat-body, then fold the article, and proceed to stick the fur upon oneside at a time, that side being the upper exposed side, laying it flatupon a table, turning it over as often as may be necessary during eachsuccessive stage of the operation; then, turning the hat inside out,placing the fur bat in contact with that portion of the hat which is toform the under surface of the brim, folding the hat and laying it flatupon thetable, and sticking the fur upon the upper exposed surface only,turning the hat over as often as may be necessary during the progress ofthe work; but by my process of mannfacture--that is to say, by stickingthe fur to the hat-body by means of mechanical appliances which subjectboth sides of the hat, when folded, to apressing and rubbing actionproduced by adjacent surfaces in a suitable machine1 am enabled to stickthe fur to four surfaces simultaneously-that is to say, to both theupper and lower outer surfaces of the hat and also to the upper andlowerinner surfaces of the brim=the operation of sticking these fursurfaces'at the same instant of time being due to the rubbing andpressing action of the adjacent surfaces of the machine. I do not,however, wish to be limited to applying the fur bat to the under brimand sticking it thereto at the same time that [stick the fur to both theupper and lower surfaces of the folded hat, although in practice Iprefer to stick the fur to all the fur-faced surfaces at the same time.

Although Ihavein two ofmy earlier patents, Nos. 253,160 and 255,260,shown and described a similar method of applying a fur bat to apreviously felted and shrunk hat-body, and subsequently sticking fur tosaid hat-body by means of a sticking mechanism, the hats being afterwardmanipulated so as to produce a flowing nap of fur, yet the inventionwhich is covered by the claims herein is not claimed in either of myaforesaid patents. In fact, each of said patents contains a disclaimerlimiting it to the invention specifically set forth in the claimsthereof, in order to avoid any conflict between said Patents Nos.253,160 and 255,260 and any subsequent case taken out by me as adivision thereof. Hence I do not in this casewhich is a division of anapplication upon which one of my aforesaid patents was granted-claimanything shown in either of those patents.

I do not in this case claim any invention except that which isspecifically recited in the claim hereof, reserving to myself therightto claim any additional features shown or described herein in anotherapplication which I am about to file as a division hereof.

What I claim is- The herein-described improvement in the art ofmakinghats which have a flowing nap of fur, the same consisting in applying toa hatbody which has been previously felted and WILLIAM E. DOUBLEDAY.

. Witnesses:

HENRY F. RANDOLPH, R. CLARENCE DoRsETT.

